E 


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BANCROFT 

LIBRARY 
<• 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


The   South:   Her   Peril,  and   her  Duty. 


DELIVERED     IN    THE 


Jir0t 


Cljtircl), 


NEW  OELEA-ISTS, 

ON    THURSDAY,    NOVEMBER   29,    1860, 


BY 


Rev.  B.  M.  PALMER,  D.  D. 


NEW  ORLEANS: 

PRINTED    AT   THE    OFFICE    OF   THE   TRUE    WITNESS    AND    SENTINEL. 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 


COBKESEONDENCE, 


NEW  ORLEANS,  Nov.  29,  1860. 

Rev.  and  Dear  Sir :  We  doubt  not  that  the  discourse  delivered  by  you 
this  morning  was  influenced  by  a  high  sense  of  duty  and  responsibility.  You 
felt  that  the  times  demanded  its  utterance.  Many  of  us  heard  it  delivered; 
others  have  been  informed  of  its  tenor.  As  your  fellow  citizens,  we  desire 
for  your  own  sake  that  your  views  may  not  be  misunderstood  or  misrepre- 
sented ;  for  the  community's  sake,  that  it  may  see  patently  before  it  an  argu- 
ment squarely  up  to  the  occasion;  for  the  nation's  sake,  that  the  opinions  of  a 
i  epresentative  man  may  be  read  and  pondered.  We  ask  you  for  a  copy,  that 
it  may  be  immediately  published  and  widely  circulated. 
With  sentiments  of  the  highest  regard, 

we  remain  your  fellow  citizens  and  friends, 

WILLIAM  A.  ELMORE,  WILLIAM  G.  AUSTIN. 

W.  R.  MILES,  JOHN  CLAIBORNE, 

J.  J.  MICHIE,  W.  RUSHTON, 

J.  R.  MACMURDO,  A.  C.  HENSLEY, 

THOMAS  E.  ADAMS.  A.  R.  RINGGOLD, 

B.  S.  TAPPAN.  WILLIAM  BELL, 

R.  P.  HUNT,  ROBERT  WARD, 

H.  D.  OGDEN,  THOMAS  HUNTON, 

A.  C.  MYERS,  CHARLES  A.  TAYLOR, 

DAVID   BRIDGES,  LEVY  PEARCE, 

A.  A.  KENNETT,  J.  W.  WATSON, 
JOHN  A.  FRENCH,  W.  HENDERSON, 
JOHN  G    GAINES,  S.  Z.  RELF, 
WILLIAM  W.  KING,  M.  M.  SIMPSON, 

B.  M.  POND,  C.  BELL, 

THOMAS  ALLEN  CLARK, 

Rev.  B.  M.  Palmer,  D.D,,  New  Orleans. 


2 

NEW  ORLEANS,  Nov.  29,  1860. 
REV.  B.  M.  PALMER,  D.D. 

Dear  Sir:  The  undersigned,  members  of  your  congregation,  believing 
and  sympathizing  in  the  sentiments  of  your  eloquent  address,  delivered  on 
this,  29th  inst.,  thanksgiving  day,  and  that  it  should  be  read  by  every  citizen 
of  the  United  States,  beg  you  to  furnish  a  copy  for  publication,  and  oblige 
respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servants, 

H.  T.  LONSDALE,  EDWARD  DILLON, 

A.  H.  GLADDEN,  GEORGE  0.  SWEET, 

R.  B.  SUMNER,  WILLIAM  P.  CAMPBELL, 

H.  W.  CONNER,  JR.,  ROBERT  A.  GRINNAN, 

W.  B.  RITCHIE,  S.  W.  DALTON. 


NEW  ORLEANS,  Nov.  29,  1860. 

To  Messrs.  H.  T.  Lonsdale,  R.  B.  Sumner,  A.  H.  Gladden  and  others ;   and 
to  Messrs.  W.  A.  Elmore,  W.  G.  Austin,  W.  R.  Miles,  and  others : 

Gentlemen :  That  two  communications  should  be  received  from  different 
sources,  requesting  my  discourse  of  this  day  for  publication,  is  sufficient 
proof  that  I  have  spoken  to  the  heart  of  this  community.  The  sermon  is 
herewith  placed  at  your  disposal,  with  the  earnest  desire  that  it  may  contrib- 
ute something  toward  rallying  our  whole  people  to  the  issue  that  is  upon  us. 
Respectfully  and  gratefully  yours, 

B.  M.  PALMER. 


THANKSGIVING  SERMON, 

DELIVERED    IX   THE    FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH,    NEW    ORLEANS,    ON 

) 

THURSDAY,  NOVEMBER  29,  1860,  BY 

REV.  B.  M.  PALMER,  D.D. 


PSALM  xciv,  20.  —  Shall  the  throne  of  iniquity  have  fellowship  with  thee,  which 
irameth  mischief  by  a  law  ? 

OBADIAH  7. —  All  the  men  of  thy  confederacy  have  brought  thee  even  to  the  border  ; 
the  men  that  were  at  peace  with  thee  have  deceived  thee,  and  prevailed  against  thee  ; 
they  that  ate  thy  bread  have  laid  a  wound  under  thee ;  there  is  none  understanding 
in  him. 

The  voice  of  the  Chief  Magistrate  has  summoned  us  to-day  to 
the  house  of  prayer.  This  call,  in  its  annual  repetition,  may  be 
too  often  only  a  solemn  state-form  ;  nevertheless  it  covers  a  mighty 
and  a  double  truth. 

It  recognizes  the  existence  of  a  personal  God  whose  will 
shapes  the  destiny  of  nations,  and  that  sentiment  of  religion  in 
man  which  points  to  Him  as  the  needle  to  the  pole.  Even  with 
those  who  grope  in  the  twilight  of  natural  religion,  natural  con- 
cience  gives  a  voice  to  the  dispensations  of  Providence.  If  in 
autumn  "  extensive  harvests  hang  their  heavy  head,"  the  joyous 
reaper,  "  crowned  with  the  sickle  and  the  wheaten  sheaf,"  lifts 
his  heart  to  the  "  Father  of  Lights  from  whom  cometh  down  every 
good  and  perfect  gift."  Or,  if  pestilence  and  famine  waste  the 
earth,  even  pagan  altars  smoke  with  bleeding  victims,  and  costly 
hecatombs  appease  the  divine  anger  which  flames  out  in  such 
dire  misfortunes.  It  is  the  instinct  of  man's  religious  nature, 
which,  among  Christians  and  heathen  alike,  seeks  after  God — 
the  natural  homage  which  reason,  blinded  as  it  may  be,  pays  to 
a  universal  and  ruling  Providence.  All  classes  bow  beneath 
its  spell  especially  in  seasons  of  gloom,  when  a  nation  bends 
beneath  the  weight  of  a  general  calamity,  and  a  common  sorrow 
falls  upon  every  heart.  The  hesitating  skeptic  forgets  to  weigh 
his  scruples,  as  the  dark  shadow  passes  over  him  and  fills  his 
soul  with  awe.  The  dainty  philosopher,  coolly  discoursing  of  the 


forces  of  nature  and  her  uniform  laws,  abandons,  for  a  time,  his 
atheistical  speculations,  abashed  by  the  proofs  of  a  supreme  and 
personal  will. 

Thus  the  devout  followers  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  those  who  do 
not  rise  above  the  level  of  mere  theism,  are  drawn  into  mo- 
mentary fellowship ;  as  under  the  pressure  of  these  inextinguish- 
able convictions  they  pay  a  public  and  united  homage  to  the 
God  of  nature  and  of  grace. 

In  obedience  to  this  great  law  of  religious  feeling,  not  less 
than  in  obedience  to  the  civil  ruler  who  represents  this  com- 
monwealth in  its  unity,  we  are  now  assembled.  Hitherto,  on 
similar  occasions,  our  language  has  been  the  language  of 
gratitude  and  song.  "  The  voice  of  rejoicing  and  salvation  was 
in  the  tabernacles  of  the  righteous."  Together  we  praised  the 
Lord  "  that  our  garners  were  full,  affording  all  manner  of  store  ; 
that  our. sheep  brought  forth  thousands  and  ten  thousands  in 
our  streets  ;  that  our  oxen  were  strong  to  labor,  and  there  was 
no  breaking  in  nor  going  out,  and  no  complaining  was  in  our 
streets."  As  we  together  surveyed  the  blessings  of  Providence, 
the  joyful  chorus  swelled  from  millions  of  people,  "  Peace  be 
within  thy  walls  and  prosperity  within  thy  palaces."  But,  to-day, 
burdened  hearts  all  over  this  land  are  brought  to  the  sanctuary 
of  God.  We  "  see  the  tents  of  Cushan  in  affliction,  and  the 
curtains  of  the  land  of  Midian  do  tremble."  We  have  fallen  upon 
times  when  there  are  "  signs  in  the  sun,  and  in  the  moon,  and  in 
the  stars  ;  upon  the  earth  distress  of  nations,  with  perplexity; 
the  sea  and  the  waves  roaring  ;  men's  hearts  failing  them  for 
fear  and  for  looking  after  those  things  which  are  coming"  in  the 
near  yet  gloomy  future.  Since  the  words  of  this  proclamation 
were  penned  by  which  we  are  convened,  that  which  all  men 
dreaded,  but  against  which  all  men  hoped,  has  been  realized ;  and 
in  the  triumph  of  a  sectional  majority  we  are  compelled  to  read 
the  probable  doom  of  our  once  happy  and  united  confederacy. 
It  is  not  to  be  concealed  that  we  are  in  the  most  fearful  and 
perilous  crisis  which  has  occurred  in  our  history  as  a  nation. 
The  cords  which,  during  four-fifths  of  a  century,  have  bound  to- 
gether this  growing  republic  are  now  strained  to  their  utmost 
tension:  they  just  need  the  touch  of  fire  to  part  asunder  forever. 
Like  a  ship  laboring  in  the  storm  and  suddenly  grounded  upon 
some  treacherous  shoal — every  timber  of  this  vast  confederacy 
strains  and  groans  under  the  pressure.  Sectional  divisions,  the 
jealousy  of  rival  interests,  the  lust  of  political  power,  a  bastard 


ambition  which  looks  to  personal  aggrandizement  rather  than  to 
the  public  weal,  a  reckless  radicalism  which  seeks  for  the  sub- 
version of  all  that  is  ancient  and  stable,  and  a  furious  fanaticism 
which  drives  on  its  ill-considered  conclusions  with  utter  disre- 
gard of  the  evil  it  engenders — all  these  combine  to  create  a  por- 
tentous crisis,  the  like  of  which  we  have  never  known  before,  and 
which  puts  to  a  crucifying  test  the  virtue,  the  patriotism  and  the 
piety  of  the  country. 

You,  my  hearers,  who  have  waited  upon  my  public  ministry 
and  have  known  me  in  the  intimacies  of  pastoral  intercourse, 
will  do  me  the  justice  to  testify  that  I  have  never  intermeddled 
with  political  questions.  Interested  as  I  might  be  in  the  progress 
of  events,  I  have  never  obtruded,  either  publicly  or  privately,  my 
opinions  upon  any  of  you  ;  nor  can  a  single  man  arise  and  say 
that,  by  word  or  sign,  have  I  ever  sought  to  warp  his  sentiments 
or  control  his  judgment  upon  any  political  subject  whatsoever. 
The  party  questions  which  have  hitherto  divided  the  political 
world,  have  seemed  to  me  to  involve  no  issue  sufficiently  mo- 
mentous to  warrant  my  turning  aside,  even  for  a  moment,  from 
my  chosen  calling.  In  this  day  of  intelligence,  I  have  felt  there 
were  thousands  around  me  more  competent  to  instruct  in  state- 
manship  ;  and  thus,  from  considerations  of  modesty  no  less  than 
prudence,  I  have  preferred  to  move  among  you  as  a  preacher  of 
righteousness  belonging  to  a  kingdom  not  of  this  world.  . 

During  the  heated  canvass  which  has  just  been  brought  to  so 
disastrous  a  close,  the  seal  of  a  rigid  and  religious  silence  has 
not  been  broken.  I  deplored  the  divisions  amongst  us  as  being, 
to  a  large  extent,  impertinent  in  the  solemn  crisis  which  was  too 
evidently  impending.  Most  clearly  did  it  appear  to  me  that  but 
one  issue  was  before  us;  an  issue  soon  to  be  presented  in  a  form 
which  would  compel  the  attention.  That  crisis  might  make  it 
imperative  upon  me  as  a  Christian  and  a  divine  to  speak  in 
language  admitting  no  misconstruction.  Until  then,  aside  from 
the  din  and  strife  of  parties,  I  could  only  mature,  with  solitary 
and  prayerful  thought,  the  destined  utterance.  That  hour  has 
come.  At  a  juncture  so  solemn  as  the  present,  with  the  destiny 
of  a  great  people  waiting  upon  the  decision  of  an  hour,  it  is  not 
lawful  to  be  still.  Whoever  may  have  influence  to  shape  public 
opinion,  at  such  a  time  must  lend  it,  or  prove  faithless  to  a  trust 
as  solemn  as  any  to  be  accounted  for  at  the  bar  of  God. 

Is  it  immodest  in  me  to  assume  that  I  may  represent  a  class 
whose  opinions  in  such  a  controversy  are  of  cardinal  importance  ? 


6 

The  class  which  seeks  to  ascertain  its  duty  in  the  light  simply  of 
conscience  and  religion  ;  and  which  turns  to  the  moralist  and  the 
Christian  for  support  and  guidance.  The  question,  too,  which  now 
^places  us  upon  the  brink  of  revolution,  was  in  its  origin  a  ques- 
tion of  morals  and  religion.  It  was  debated  in  ecclesiastical 
councils  before  it  entered  legislative  halls.  It  has  riven  asunder 
the  two  largest  religious  communions  in  the  land:  and  the  right 
determination  of  this  primary  question  will  go  far  toward  fixing 
the  attitude  we  must  assume  in  the  coming  struggle.  I  sincerely 
pray  God  that  I  may  be  forgiven  if  I  have  misapprehended  the 
duty  incumbent  upon  me  to-day;  for  I  have  ascended  this  pulpit 
under  the  agitation  of  feeling  natural  to  one  who  is  about  to 
deviate  from  the  settled  policy  of  his  public  life.  It  is  my  pur- 
pose— not  as  your  organ,  compromitting  you,  whose  opinions  are 
for  the  most  part  unknown  to  me,  but  on  my  sole  responsibility — 
to  speak  upon  the  one  question  of  the  day  ;  and  to  state  the  duty 
which,  as  I  believe,  patriotism  and  religion  alike  require  of  us 
all.  I  shall  aim  to  speak  with  a  moderation  of  tone  and  feeling 
almost  judicial,  well  befitting  the  sanctities  of  the  place  and  the 
solemnities  of  the  judgment  day. 

In  determining  our  duty  in  this  emergency  it  is  necessary  that 
we  should  "first  ascertain  the  nature  of  the  trust  providentially 
committed  to  us.  A  nation  often  has  a  character  as  well  defined 
and  intense  as  that  of  the  individual.  This  depends,  of  course 
upon  a  variety  of  causes  operating  through  a  long-  period  of  time. 
It  is  due  largely  to  the  original  traits  which  distinguish  the  stock 
from  which  it  springs,  and  to  the  providential  training  which  has 
formed  its  education.  But,  however  derived,  this  individuality  of 
character  alone  makes  any  people  truly  historic,  competent  to 
work  out  its  specific  mission,  and  to  become  a  factor  in  the  world's 
progress.  The  particular  trust  assigned  to  such  a  people  be- 
comes the  pledge  of  the  divine  protection;  and  their  fidelity  to  it 
determines  the  fate  by  which  it  is  finally  overtaken.  What  that 
trust  is  must  be  ascertained  from  the  necesities  of  their  position, 
the  institutions  which  are  the  outgrowth  of  their  principles  and 
the  conflicts  through  which  they  preserve  their  identity  and  inde- 
pendence. If  then  the  South  is  such  a  people,  what,  at  this  junc- 
ture, is  their  providential  trust  ?  I  answer,  that  it  is  to  conserve 
and  to  perpetuate  the  institution  of  domestic  slavery  as  now  existing. 
It  is  not  necessary  here  to  inquire  whether  this  is  precisely  the 
best  relation  in  which  the  hewer  of  wood  and  drawer  of  water 
can  stand  to  his  employer  ;  although  this  proposition  may  per- 


haps  be  successfully  sustained  by  those  who  choose  to  defend  it. 
Still  less  are  we  required,  dogmatically,  to  affirm  that  it  will 
subsist  through  all  time.  Baffled  as  our  wisdom  may  now  be, 
in  finding  a  solution  of  this  intricate  social  problem,  it  would 
nevertheless  be  the  height  of  arrogance  to  pronounce  what 
changes  may  or  may  not  occur  in  the  distant  future.  In  the 
grand  march  of  events  Providence  may  work  out  a  solution  un- 
discoverable  by  us.  What  modifications  of  soil  and  climate  may 
hereafter  be  produced,  what  consequent  changes  in  the  products 
on  which  we  depend,  what  political  revolutions  may  occur  among 
the  races  which  are  now  enacting  the  great  drama  of  history: 
all  such  inquiries1  are  totally  irrelevant  because  no  prophetic 
vision  can  pierce  the  darkness  of  that  future.  If  this  question 
should  ever  arise,  the  generation  to  whom  it  is  remitted  will  doubt- 
less have  the  wisdom  to  meet  it,  and  Providence  will  furnish 
the  lights  in  which  it  is  to  be  resolved.  All  that  we  claim  for 
them  and  for  ourselves  is  liberty  to  work  out  this  problem 
guided  by  nature  and  God,  without  obtrusive  interference  from 
abroad.  These  great  questions  of  providence  and  history  must 
have  free  scope  for  their  solution;  and  the  race  whose  fortunes 
are  distinctly  implicated  in  the  same  is  alone  authorized,  as  it  is 
alone  competent,  to  determine  them.  It  is  just  this  impertinence 
of  human  legislation,  setting  bounds  to  what  God  only  can  re- 
gulate, that  the  South  is  called  this  day  to  resent  and  resist. 
The  country  is  convulsed  simply  because  "  the  throne  of  iniquity 
frameth  mischief  by  a  law."  T  Without,  therefore,  determining 
the  question  of  duty  for  future  generations,  I  simply  say,  that  for 
us,  as  now  situated,  the  duty  is  plain  of  conserving  and  transmit- 
ting the  system  of  slavery,  with  the  freest  scope  for  its  natural 
developement  and  extension.  Let  us,  my  brethren,  look  our  duty 
in  the  face.  With  this  institution  assigned  to  our  keeping,  what 
reply  shall  we  make  to  those  wha  say  that  its  days  are  numbered  ? 
/My  own  conviction  is,  that  we  should  at  once  lift  ourselves,  in- 
telligently, to  the  highest  moral  ground  and  proclaim  to  all  the 
world  that  we  hold  this  trust  from  God,  and  in  its  occupancy  we 
are  prepared  to  stand  or  fall  as  God  may  appoint.  If  the  critical 
moment  has  arrived  at  which  the  great  issue  is  joined,  let  us  say 
that,  in  the  sight  of  all  perils,  we  will  stand  by  our  trust;  and 
God  be  with  the  right  ! 

The  argument  which  enforces  the  solemnity  of  this  providen- 
tial trust  is  simple  and  condensed.  It  is  bound  upon  us,  then,  by 
the  principle  of  self-preservation,  that  "first  law"  which  is  con- 


8 

tinually  asserting  its  supremacy  over  all  others.  Need  I  pause  to 
show  how  this  system  of  servitude  underlies  and  supports  our 
material  interests  ?  That  our  wealth  consists  in  our  lands  and 
in  the  serfs  who  till  them  ?  That  from  the  nature  of  our  pro- 
ducts they  can  only  be  cultivated  by  labor  which  must  be  con- 
trolled in  order  to  be  certain  ?  That  any  other  than  a  tropical 
race  must  faint  and  wither  beneath  a  tropical  sun  ?  Need  I  pause 
to  show  how  this  system  is  interwoven  with  our  entire  social 
fabric  ?  That  these  slaves  form  parts  of  our  households,  even  as 
our  children;  and  that,  too,  through  a  relationship  recognized  and 
sanctioned  in  the  scriptures  of  God  even  as  the  other  ?  Must  I 
pause  to  show  how  it  has  fashioned  our  modes  of  life,  and  deter- 
mined all  our  habits  of  thought  and  feeling,  and  moulded  the 
very  type  of  our  civilization  ?  How  then  can  the  hand  of  violence 
be  laid  upon  it  without  involving  our  existence  ?  The  so-called 
free  states  of  this  country  are  working  out  the  social  problem 
under  conditions  peculiar  to  themselves.  These  conditions  are 
sufficiently  hard,  and  their  success  is  too  uncertain,  to  excite  in 
us  the  least  jealousy  of  their  lot.  With  a  teeming  population, 
which  the  soil  cannot  support — with  their  wealth  depending  upon 
arts,  created  by  artificial  wants — with  an  eternal  friction  between 
the  grades  of  their  society — with  their  labor  and  their  capital 
grinding  against  each  other  like  the  upper  and  nether  mill- 
stones— with  labor  cheapened  and  displaced  by  new  mechanical 
inventions,  bursting  more  asunder  the  bonds  of  brotherhood ;  amid 
these  intricate  perils  we  have  ever  given  them  our  sympathy 
and  our  prayers,  and  have  never  sought  to  weaken  the  foundations 
of  their  social  order.  God  grant  them  complete  success  in  the 
solution  of  all  their  perplexities  !  We,  too,  have  our  responsi- 
bilities and  trials;  but  they  are  all  bound^up  in  this  one  institu- 
tion, which  has  been  the  object  of  such  unrighteous  assault 
through  five  and  twenty  years.  If  we  are  true  to  ourselves 
we  shall,  at  this  critical  juncture,  stand  by  it  and  work  out 
our  destiny. 

This  duty  is  bound  upon  us  again  as  the  constituted  guardians 
of  the  slaves  themselves.  Our  lot  is  not  more  implicated  in  theirs, 
than  is  their  lot  in  ours ;  in  our  mutual  relations  we  survive  or 
perish  together.  The  worst  foes  of  the  black  race  are  those  who 
have  intermeddled  on  their  behalf.  We  know  better  than,  others 
that  every  attribute  of  their  character  fits  them  for  dependence 
and  servitude.  By  nature  the  most  affectionate  and  loyal  of  all 
races  beneath  the  sun,  they  are  also  the  most  helpless  :  and  no 


calamity  can  befal  them  greater  than  the  loss  of  that  protection 
they  enjoy  under  this  patriarchal  system.  Indeed  the  experi- 
ment has  been  grandly  tried  of  precipitating  them  upon  freedom 
which  they  know  not  how  to  enjoy ;  and  the  dismal  results  are 
before  us  in  statistics  that  astonish  the  world.  With  the  fairest 
portions  of  the  earth  in  their  possession  andjftvith  the  advantage 
of  a  long  discipline  as  cultivators  of  the  soil,  their  constitutional 
indolence  has  converted  the  most  beautiful  islands  of  the  sea  into 
a  howling  waste.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  if  the  South 
should,  at  this  moment,  surrender  every  slave,  the  wisdom  of 
the  entire  world,  united  in  solemn  council,  could  not  solve  the 
question  of  their  disposal.  Their  transportation  to  Africa,  even 
if  it  were  feasible,  would  be  but  the  most  refined  cruelty;  they 
must  perish  with  starvation  before  they  could  have  time  to  re- 
lapse into  their  primitive  barbarism.  Their  residence  here,  in 
the  presence  of  the  vigorous  Saxon  race,  would  be  but  the  signal 
for  their  rapid  extermination  before  they  had  time  to  waste 
away  through  listlessness,  filth,  and  vice.  Freedom  would  be  their 
doom;  and  equally  from  both  they  call  upon  us,  their  providential 
guardians,  to  be  protected.  I  know  this  argument  will  be  scoffed 
abroad  as  the  hypocritical  cover  thrown  over  our  own  cupidity 
and  selfishness;  but  every  southern  master  knows  its  truth  and 
feels  its  power.  My  servant,  whether  born  in  my  house  or 
bought  with  my  money,  stands  to  me  in  the  relation  of  a  child. 
Though  providentially  owing  rne  service,  which,  providentially,  I 
am  bound  to  exact,  he  is,  nevertheless,  my  brother  and  my  friend ; 
and  I  am  to  him  a  guardian  and  a  father.  He  leans  upon  me  for 
protection,  for  counsel,  and  for  blessing;  and  so  long  as  the  rela- 
tion continues  no  power,  but  the  power  of  almighty  God,  shall 
come  between  him  and  me.  Were  there  no  argument  but  this, 
it  binds  upon  us  the  providential  duty  of  preserving  the  rela- 
tion that  we  may  save  him  from  a  doom  worse  than  death. 

It  is  a  duty  which  we  owe,  further,  to  the  civilized  world.  It 
is  a  remarkable  fact  that  during  these  thirty  years  of  unceasing 
warfare  against  slavery,  and  while  a  lying  spirit  has  inflamed  the 
world  against  us,  that  world  has  grown  more  and  more  depen- 
dent upon  it  for  sustenance  and  wealth.  Every  tyro  knows  that 
all  branches  of  industry  fall  back  upon  the  soil.  We  must  come, 
every  one  of  us,  to  the  bosom  of  this  great  mother  for  nourish- 
ment. In  the  happy  partnership  which  has  grown  up  in  provi- 
dence between  the  tribes  of  this  confederacy,  our  industry  has 
been  concentrated  upon  agriculture.  To  the  North  we  'have 


10 

cheerfully  resigned  all  the  profits  arising  from  manufacture  and 
commerce.  Those  profits  they  have,  for  the  most  part,  fairly  earned, 
and  we  have  never  begrudged  them.  We  have  sent  them  our 
sugar  and  bought  it  back  when  refined;  we  have  sent  them  our 
cotton  and  bought  it  back  when  spun  into  thread  or  woven  into 
cloth.  Almost  every  article  we  use,  from  the  shoe-lachet  to  the 
most  elaborate  and  costly  article  of  luxury,  they  have  made  and 
we  have  bought;  and  both  sections  have  thriven  by  the  part- 
nership, as  no  people  ever  thrived  before  since  the  first  shining 
of  the  sun.  So  literally  true  are  the  words  of  the  text,  ad- 
dressed by  Obadiah  to  Edom,  "  All  the  men  of  our  confederacy, 
the  men  that  were  at  peace  with  us,  have  eaten  our  bread  at  the 
very  time  they  have  deceived  and  laid  a  wound  under  us."  Even 
beyond — this  the  enriching  commerce,  which  has  built  the  splen- 
did cities  and  marble  palaces,  of  England  as  well  as  of  America, 
has  been  largely  established  upon  the  products  of  our  soil;  and 
the  blooms  upon  southern  fields  gathered  by  black  hands,  have 
fed  the  spindles  and  looms  of  Manchester  and  Birmingham  not 
less  than  of  Lawrence  and  Lowell.  Strike  now  a  blow  at  this 
system  of  labor  and  the  world  itself  totters  at  the  stroke.  Shall 
we  permit  that  blow  to  fall  ?  Do  we  not  owe  it  to  civilized  man 
to  stand  in  the  breach  and  stay  the  uplifted  arm  ?  If  the  blind 
Samson  lays  hold  of  the  pillars  which  support  the  arch  of  the 
world's  industry,  how  many  more  will  be  buried  beneath  its  ruins 
than  the  lords  of  the  Philistines  ?  "  Who  knoweth  whether 
we  are  not  come  to  the  kingdom  for  such  a  time  as  this." 

Last  of  all,  in  this  great  struggle,  we  defend  the  cause  of  God 
and  religion.  The  abolition  spirit  is  undeniably  atheistic.  The 
demon  which  erected  its  throne  upon  the  guillotine  in  the  days  of 
Robespierre  and  Marat,  which  abolished  the  Sabbath  and  wor- 
shiped reason  in  the  person  of  a  harlot,  yet  survives  to  work 
other  horrors,  of  which  those  of  the  French  revolution  are  but  the 
type.  Among  a  people  so  generally  religious  as  the  American, 
a  disguise  must  be  worn  ;  but  it  is  the  same  old  threadbare 
disguise  of  the  advocacy  of  human  rights.  From  a  thousand 
Jacobin  clubs  here,  as  in  France,  the  decree  has  gone  forth  which 
strikes  at  God  by  striking  at  all  subordination  and  law.  Avail- 
ing itself  of  the  morbid  and  misdirected  sympathies  of  men,  it 
has  entrapped  weak  consciences  in  the  meshes  of  its  treachery  ; 
and  now,  at  last,  has  seated  its  high  priest  upon  the  throne,  clad 
in  the  black  garments  of  discord  and  schism,  so  symbolic  of  its 
ends.  Under  this  specious  cry  of  reform,  it  demands  that  every 
evil  shall  be  corrected,  or  society  become  a  wreck — the  sun  must 
be  stricken  from  the  heavens,  if  a  spot  is  found  upon  his  disc. 
The  Most  High,  knowing  his  own  power  which  is  infinite,  and 
his  own  wisdom  which  is  unfathomable,  can  afford  to  be  patient. 
But  these  self-constituted  reformers  must  quicken  the  activity  of 
Jehovah  or  compel  his  abdication.  In  their  furious  haste,  they 
trample  upon  obligations  sacred  as  any  which  can  bind  the  con- 
science. It  is  time  to  reproduce  the  obsolete  idea  that  Provi- 
dence must  govern  man,  and  not  that  man  should  control  Provi- 


11 

dence.  In  the  imperfect  state  of  human  society,  it  pleases  God  to 
allow  evils  which  check  others  that  are  greater.  As  in  the 
physical  world,  objects  are  moved  forward,  not  by  a  single  force, 
but  by  the  composition  of  forces  ;  so  in  his  moral  administration, 
there  are  checks  and  balances  whose  intimate  relations  are  com- 
prehended only  by  himself.  But  what  reck  they  of  this — these 
fierce  zealots  who  undertake  to  drive  the  chariot  of  the  sun  ? 
working  out  the  single  and  false  idea  which  rides  them  like  a 
nightmare,  they  dash  athwart  the  spheres,  utterly  disregarding  the 
delicate  mechanism  of  Providence;  which  moves  on,  wheels 
within  wheels,  with  pivots  and  balances  and  springs,  which 
the  great  designer  alone  can  control.  This  spirit  of  atheism, 
which  knows  no  God  who  tolerates  evil,  no  Bible  which  sanc- 
tions law,  and  no  conscience  that  can  be  bound  by  oaths  and 
covenants,  has  selected  us  for  its  victims,  and  slavery  for  its 
issue.  Its  banner-cry  rings  out  already  upon  the  air — "liberty, 
equality,  fraternity,"  which  simply  interpreted  mean  bondage,  con- 
fiscation and  massacre.  With  its  tricolor  waving  in  the  breeze, — 
it  waits  to  inaugurate  its  reign  of  terror.  To  the  South  the  high 
position  is  assigned  of  defending,  before  all  nations,  the  cause  of 
all  religion  and  of  all  truth.  In'  this  trust,  we  are  resisting  the 
power  which  wars  against  constitutions  and  laws  and  compacts, 
against  Sabbaths  and  sanctuaries,  against  the  family,  the  state, 
and  the  church;  which  blasphemously  invades  the  prerogatives 
of  God,  and  rebukes  the  Most  High  for  the  errors  of  his  adminis- 
tration ;  which,  if  it  cannot  snatch  the  reins  of  empire  from  his  grasp, 
will  lay  the  universe  in  ruins  at  his  feet.  Is  it  possible  that  we 
shall  decline  the  onset  ? 

This  argument,  then,  which  sweeps  over  the  entire  circle  of  our 
relations,  touches  the  four  cardinal  points  of  duty  to  ourselves,  to 
our  slaves,  to  the  world,  and  to  almighty  God.  It  establishes  the 
nature  and  solemnity  of  our  present  trust,  to  preserve  and  transmit 
our  existing  system  of  domestic  servitude,  with  the  right,  unchal- 
lenged by  man,  to  go  and  root  itself  wherever  Providence  and  nature 
may  carry  it.  This  trust  we  will  discharge  in  the  face  of  the  worst 
possible  peril.  Though  war  be  the  aggregation  of  all  evils,  yet, 
should  the  madness  of  the  hour  appeal  to  the  arbitration  of  the 
sword,  we  will  not  shrink  even  from  the  baptism  of  fire.  If  mo- 
dern crusaders  stand  in  serried  ranks  upon  some  plain  of  Esdrae- 
lon,  there  shall  we  be  in  defense  of  our  trust.  Not  till  the  last 
man  has  fallen  behind  the  last  rampart,  shall  it  drop  from  our  hands ; 
and  then  only  in  surrender  to  the  God  who  gave  it. 

Against  this  institution  a  system  of  aggression  has  been  pursued 
through  the  last  thirty  years.  Initiated  by  a  few  fanatics,  who 
were  at  first  despised,  it  has  gathered  strength  from  opposition 
until  it  has  assumed  its  present  gigantic  proportions.  No  man  has 
thoughtfully  watched  the  progress  of  this  controversy  without  being 
convinced  that  the  crisis  must  at  length  come.  Some  few,  perhaps, 
have  hoped  against  hope,  that  the  gathering  imposthume  might  be 
dispersed,  and  the  poison  be  eliminated  from  the  body  politic  by 
healthful  remedies.  But  the  delusion  has  scarcely  been  cherished 


by  those  who  have  studied  the  history  of  fanaticism  in  its  path  of 
blood  and  fire  through  the  ages  of  the  past.  The  moment  must 
arrive  when  the  conflict  must  be  joined,  and  victory  decide  for  one 
or  the  other.  As  i.t  has  been  a  war  of  legislative  tactics,  and  not 
of  physical  force,  both  parties  have  been  maneuvering  for  a  posi- 
tion; and  the  embarrassment  has  been,  whilst  dodging  amidst 
constitutional  forms,  to  make  an  issue  that  should  be  clear,  simple, 
and  tangible.  Such  an  issue  is  at  length  presented  in  the  result 
of  the  recent  Presidental  election.  Be  it  observed,  too,  that  it  is 
an  issue  made  by  the  North,  not  by  the  South ;  upon  whom,  there- 
fore, must  rest  the  entire  guilt  of  the  present  disturbance,  With 
a  choice  between  three  national  candidates,  who  have  more  or 
less  divided  the  votes  of  the  South,  the  North,  with  unexampled 
unanimity,  have  cast  their  ballot  for  a  candidate  who  is  sectional, 
who  represents  a  party  that  is  sectional,  and  the  ground  of  that 
sectionalism,  prejudice  against  the  established  and  constitutional 
rights  and  immunities  and  institutions  of  the  South.  What  does 
this  declare — what  can  it  declare,  but  that  from  henceforth  this  is 
to  be  a  government  of  section  over  section;  a  government  using 
constitutional  forms  only  to  embarrass  and  divide  the  section  ruled, 
and  as  fortresses  through  whose  embrasures  the  cannon  of  legis- 
lation is  to  be  employed  in  demolishing  the  guaranteed  institutions 
of  the  South  ?  What  issue  is  more  direct,  concrete,  intelligible  than 
this  ?  I  thank  God  that,  since  the  conflict  must  be  joined,  the  re- 
sponsibility of  this  issue  rests  not  with  us,  who  have  ever  acted 
upon  the  defensive;  and  that  it  is  so  disembarrassed  and  simple 
that  the  feeblest  mind  can  understand  it. 

The  question  with  the  South  to-day  is  not  what  issue  shall 
she  make,  but  how  shall  she  meet  that  which  is  prepared  for  her  ? 
Is  it  possible  that  we  can  hesitate  longer  than  a  moment  ?  In 
our  natural  recoil  from  the  perils  of  revolution,  and  with  our 
clinging  fondness  for  the  memories  of  the  past,  we  may  perhaps 
look  around  for  something  to  soften  the  asperity  of  this  issue, 
for  some  ground  on  which  we  may  defer  the  day  of  evil,  for  some 
hope  that  the  gathering  clouds  may  not  burst  in  fury  upon  the  land. 

It  is  alleged,  for  example,  that  the  President  elect  has  been  chosen 
by  a  fair  majority  under  prescribed  forms.  But  need  I  say,  to 
those  who  have  read  history,  that  no  despotism  is  more  absolute 
than  that  of  an  unprincipled  democracy,  and  no  tyranny  more  gall- 
ing than  that  exercised  through  constitutional  formulas  ?  But  the 
plea  is  idle,  when  the  very  question  we  debate  is  the  perpetuation 
of  that  constitution  now  converted  into  an  engine  of  oppression, 
and  the  continuance  of  that  union  which  is  henceforth  to  be  our 
condition  of  vassalage.  I  say  it  with  solemnity  and  pain,  this 
Union  of  our  forefathers  is  already  gone.  It  existed  but  in 
mutual  confidence,  the  bonds  of  which  were  ruptured  in  the  late 
election.  Though  its  form  should  be  preserved,  it  is,  in  fact,  de- 
stroyed. We  may  possibly  entertain  the  project  of  reconstruct- 
ing it;  but  it  will  be  another  union,  resting  upon  other  than  past 
guarantees.  "  In  that  we  say  a  new  covenant  we  have  made  the 
first  old,  and  that  which  decayeth  and  waxeth  old  is  ready  to  vanish 


13 

away" — "as  a  vesture  it  is  folded  up."  For  myself  I  say  that, 
under  the  rule  which  threatens  us,  I  throw  off  the  yoke  of  this 
Union  as  readily  as  did  our  ancestors  the  yoke  of  King  George  III., 
and  for  causes  immeasurably  stronger  than  those  pleaded  in  their 
celebrated  declaration. 

It  is  softly  whispered,  too,  that  the  successful  competitor  for  the 
throne  protests  and  avers  his  purpose  to  administer  the  govern- 
ment in  a  conservative  and  national  spirit.  Allowing  him  all  credit 
for  personal  integrity  in  these  protestations,  he  is,  in  this  matter, 
nearly  as  impotent  for  good  as  he  is  competent  for  evil.  He  is 
nothing  more  than  a  figure  upon  the  political  chess-board — whether 
pawn  or  knight  or  king,  will  hereafter  appear — but  still  a  silent 
figure  upon  the  checkered  squares,  moved  by  the  hands  of  an  un- 
seen player.  That  player  is  the  party  to  which  he  owes  his  eleva- 
tion; a  party  that  has  signalized  its  history  by  the  most  unblush- 
ing perjuries.  What  faith  can  be  placed  in  the  protestations  of 
men  who  openly  avow  that  their  consciences  are  too  sublimated  to 
be  restrained  by  the  obligation  of  covenants  or  by  the  sanctity  of 
oaths  ?  No :  we  have  seen  the  trail  of  the  serpent  five  and  twenty 
years  in  our  Eden;  twined  now  in  the  branches  of  the  forbidden 
tree,  we  feel  the  pangs  of  death  already  begun  as  its  hot  breath  is 
upon  our  cheek,  hissing  out  the  original  falsehood,  "  Ye  shall  not 
surely  die." 

Another  suggests  that  even  yet  the  Electors,  alarmed  by  these 
demonstrations  of  the  South,  may  not  cast  the  black  ball  which 
dooms  their  country  to  the  executioner.  It  is  a  forlorn  hope. 
Whether  we  should  counsel  such  breach  of  faith  in  them  or  take 
refuge  in  their  treachery — whether  such  a  result  would  give  a 
President  chosen  by  the  people  according  to  the  constitution — are 
points  I  will  not  discuss.  But  that  it  would  prove  a  cure  for  any 
of  our  ills  who  can  believe  !  It  is  certain  that  it  would,  with  some 
show  of  justice,  exasperate  a  party  sufficiently  ferocious  ;  that  it 
would  doom  us  to  four  years  of  increasing  strife  and  bitterness ; 
and  that  the  crisis  must  come  at  last  under  issues  possibly  not 
half  so  clear  as  the  present.  Let  us  not  desire  to  shift  the  day 
of  trial  by  miserable  subterfuges  of  this  sort.  The  issue  is  upon 
us ;  let  us  meet  it  like  men  and"  end  this  strife  forever. 

But  some  quietist  whispers,  yet  further,  this  majority  is  acciden- 
tal and  has  been  swelled  by  accessions  of  men  simply  opposed 
to  the  existing  administration;  the  party  is  utterly  heterogeneous 
and  must  be  shivered  into  fragments  by  its  own  success.  I  con- 
fess, frankly,  this  suggestion  has  staggered  me  more  than  any 
other,  and  I  sought  to  take  refuge  therein.  Why  should  we  not  wait 
and  see  the  effect  of  success  itself  upon  a  party  whose  elements 
might  devour  each  other  in  the  very  distribution  of  the  spoil  ? 
Two  considerations  have  dissipated  the  fallacy  before  me.  The  first 
is,  that,  however  mixed  the  party,  abolitionism  is  clearly  its  inform- 
ing and  actuating  soul;  and  fanaticism  is  a  blood-hound  that  never 
bolts  its  track  when  it  has  once  lapped  blood.  The  elevation  of 
their  candidate  is  far  from  being  the  consummation  of  their  aims. 
It  is  only  the  beginning  of  that  consummation;  and,  if  all  history 


14: 

be  not  a  lie,  there  will  be  cohersion  enough  till  the  end  of  the 
beginning  is  reached,  and  the  dreadful  banquet  of  slaughter  and 
ruin  shall  glut  the  appetite.  The  second  consideration  is  a  prin- 
ciple which  I  cannot  blink.  It  is  nowhere  denied  that  the  first 
article  in  the  creed  of  the  now  dominant  party  is  the  restriction 
of  slavery  within  its  present  limits.  It  is  distinctly  avowed  by 
their  organs,  and  in  the  name  of  their  elected  chieftain;  as  will 
appear  from  the  following  extract  from  an  article  written  to 
pacify  the  South  and  to  reassure  its  fears:  "There  can  be  no 
doubt  whatever  in  the  mind  of  any  man,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  regards 
slavery  as  a  moral,  social,  and  political  evil,  and  that  it  should 
be  dealt  with  as  such  by  the  Federal  Government,  in  every  in- 
stance where  it  is  called  upon  to  deal  with  it  all.  On  this  point 
there  is  no  room  for  question — and  there  need  be  no  misgivings 
as  to  his  official  action.  The  whole  influence  of  the  Executive 
Department  of  the  Government,  while  in  his  hands,  will  be  thrown 
against  the  extension  of  slavery  into  the  new  territories  of  the 
Union,  and  the  re-opening  of  the  African  slave-trade.  On  these 
points  he  will  make  no  compromise  nor  yield  one  hair's  breadth 
to  coercion  from  any  quarter  or  in  any  shape.  He  does  not  ac- 
cede to  the  alleged  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  that  the  Con- 
stitution places  slaves  upon  the  footing  of  other  property,  and 
protects  them  as  such  wherever  its  jurisdiction  extends,  nor  will 
he  be,  in  the  least  degree,  governed  or  controlled  by  it  in  his  exe- 
cutive action.  He  will  do  all  in  his  power,  personally  and  offici- 
ally, by  the  direct  exercise  of  the  powers  of  his  office,  and  the  in- 
direct influence  inseparable  from  it,  to  arrest  the  tendency  to 
make  slavery  national  and  perpetual,  and  to  place  it  in  pre- 
cisely the  same  position  which  it  held  in  the  early  days  of  the 
Republic,  and  in  the  view  of  the  founders  of  the  Government" 

Now,  what  enigmas  may  be  couched  in  this  last  sentence — the 
sphinx  which  uttered  them  can  perhaps  resolve  ;  but  the  sen- 
tence in  which  they  occur  is  as  big  as  the  belly  of  the  Trojan 
horse  which  laid  the  city  of  Priam  in  ruins. 

These  utterances  we  have  heard  so  long  that  they  fall  stale  upon 
the  ear  ;  but  never  before  have  they  had  such  significance. — 
Hitherto  they  have  come  from  Jacobin  conventicles  and  pulpits, 
from  the  rostrum,  from  the  hustings,  and  from  the  halls  of  our 
national  Congress :  but  always  as  the  utterances  of  irresponsible 
men  or  associations  of  men.  But  now  the  voice  comes  from  the 
throne ;  already,  before  clad  with  the  sanctities  of  office,  ere  the 
anointing  oil  is  poured  upon  the  monarch's  head,  the  decree  has 
gone  forth  that  the  institution  of  Southern  slavery  shall  be  con- 
strained within  assigned  limits.  Though  nature  and  Providence 
should  send  forth  its  branches  like  the  Banyan  tree,  to  take  root 
in  congenial  soil,  here  is  a  power  superior  to  both,  that  says  it 
shall  wither  and  die  within  its  own  charmed  circle. 

What  say  you  to  this,  to  whom  this  great  providential  trust 
of  conserving  slavery  is  assigned?  "Shall  the  throne  of  iniquity 
have  fellowship  with  thee,  which  frameth  mischief  by  a  law?" 
Tt  is  this  that  makes  the  crisis.  Whether  we  will  or  not,  this  is 


15 

the  historic  moment  when  the  fate  of  this  institution  hangs  sus- 
pended in  the  balance.  Decide  either  way,  it  is  the  moment  of 
our  destiny — the  only  thing  affected  by  the  decision  is  the  com- 
plexion of  that  destiny.  If  the  South  bows  before  this  throne,  she 
accepts  the  decree  of  restriction  and  ultimate  extinction,  which  is 
made  the  condition  of  her  homage. 

As  it  appears  to  me,  the  course  to  be  pursued  in  this  emer- 
gency is  that  which  has  already  been  inaugurated.  Let  the 
people  in  all  the  Southern  states,  in  solemn  council  assembled, 
reclaim  the  powers  they  have  delegated.  Let  those  conventions 
be  composed  of  men  whose  fidelity  has  been  approved — men  who 
bring  the  wisdom,  experience  and  firmness  of  age  to  support  and 
announce  principles  which  have  long  been  matured.  Let  these  con- 
ventions decide  firmly  and  solemnly  what  they  will  do  with  this 
great  trust  committed  to  their  hands.  Let  them  pledge  each  other 
in  sacred  covenant,  to  uphold  and  perpetuate  what  they  cannot 
resign  without  dishonor  and  palpable  ruin.  Let  them  further,  take 
all  the  necessary  steps  looking  to  separate  and  independent  exis- 
tence; and  initiate  measures  for  framing  a  new  and  homogeneous 
confederacy.  Thus,  prepared  for  every  contingency,  let  the  crisis 
come.  Paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  if  there  be  any  way  to  save, 
or  rather  to  re-construct,  the  union  of  our  forefathers,  it  is  this. 
Perhaps,  at  the  last  moment,  the  conservative  portions  of  the 
North  may  awake  to  see  the  abyss  into  which  they  are  about  to 
plunge.  Perchance  they  may  arise  and  crush  out  forever,  the  abo- 
lition hydra,  and  cast  it  into  a  grave  from  which  there  shall  never 
be  a  resurrection. 

Thus,  with  restored  confidence,  we  may  be  rejoined  a  united  and 
happy  people.  But,  before  God,  I  believe  that  nothing  will 
effect  this  but  the  line  of  policy  which  the  South  has  been 
compelled  in  self-preservation  to  adopt.  I  confess  frankly,  I 
am  not  sanguine  that  such  an  auspicious  result  will  be  reached. 
Partly,  because  I  do  not  see  how  new  guarantees  are  to  be 
grafted  upon  the  Constitution,  nor  how,  if  grafted,  they  can  be 
more  binding  than  those  which  have  already  been  trampled  under 
foot;  but  chiefly,  because  I  do  not 'see  how  such  guarantees  can 
be  elicited  from  the  people  at  the  North.  It  cannot  be  disguised, 
that  almost  to  a  man,  they  are  anti-slavery  where  they  are  not  abo- 
lition. A  whole  generation  has  been  educated  to  look  upon  the 
system  with  abhorrence  as  a  national  blot.  They  hope,  and  look, 
and  pray  for  its  extinction  within  a  reasonable  time,  and  cannot 
be  satisfied  unless  things  are  seen  drawing  to  that  conclusion. 
We,  on  the  contrary,  as  its  constituted  guardians,  can  demand 
nothing  less  than  that  it  should  be  left  open  to  expansion,  sub- 
ject to  no  limitations  save  those  imposed  by  God  and  nature.  I 
fear  the  antagonism  is  too  great,  and  the  conscience  of  both  par- 
ties too  deeply  implicated  to  allow  such  a  composition  of  the  strife. 
Nevertheless  since  it  is  -within  the  range  of  possibility  in  the 
Providence  of  God,  I  would  not  shut  out  the  alternative. 

Should  it  fail,  what  remains  but  that  we  say  to  each  other, 
calmly  and  kindly,  what  Abraham  said  to  Lot :  "  Let  there  be 


16 

no  strife,  I  pray  thcc,  between  me  and  thee,  and  between  my  herd- 
men  and  thy  herdmen,  for  we  be  brethren  :  Is  not  the  whole  land 
before  thee  ?  Separate  thyself  I  pray  thee,  from  me — if  thou  will 
take  the  left  hand,  then  I  will  go  to  the  right,  or  if  thou  depart  to 
the  right  hand,  then  I  will  go  to  the  left."  Thus,  if  we  cannot 
save  the  Union,  we  may  save  the  inestimable  blessings  it  en- 
shrines ;  if  we  cannot  preserve  the  vase,  we  will  preserve  the  pre- 
cious liquor  it  contains. 

In  all  this,  I  speak  for  the  North  no  less  than  for  the  South  ; 
for  upon  our  united  and  determined  resistance  at  this  moment, 
depends  the  salvation  of  the  whole  country — in  saving  ourselves 
we  shall  save  the  North  from  the  ruin  she  is  madly  drawing  down 
upon  her  own  head. 

The  position  of  the  South  is  at  this  moment  sublime.  If  she 
has  grace  given  her  to  know  her  hour  she  will  save  herself,  the 
country,  and  the  world.  It  will  involve,  indeed,  temporary  pros- 
tration and  distress  ;  the  dykes  of  Holland  must  be  cut  to  save  her 
from  the  troops  of  Philip.  But  I  warn  my  countrymen  the  his- 
toric moment  once  passed,  never  returns.  If  she  will  arise  in  her 
majesty,  and  speak  now  as  with  the  voice  of  one  man,  she  will 
roll  back  for  all  time,  the  curse  that  is  upon  her.  If  she  succumbs 
now,  she  transmits  that  curse  as  an  heirloom  to  posterity.  We 
may,  for  a  generation,  enjoy  comparative  ease,  gather  up  our 
feet  in  our  beds,  and  die  in  peace  ;  but  our  children  will  go  forth 
beggared  from  the  homes  of  their  fathers.  Fishermen  will  cast 
their  nets  where  your  proud  commercial  navy  now  rides  at  anchor, 
and  dry  them  upon  the  shore  now  covered  with  your  bales  of 
merchandise.  Sapped,  circumvented,  undermined,  the  institutions 
of  your  soil  will  be  overthrown;  and  within  five  and  twenty  years, 
the  history  of  St.  Domingo  will  be  the  record  of  Louisiana.  If 
dead  men's  bones  can  tremble,  ours  will  move  under  the  muttered 
curses  of  sons  and  daughters,  denouncing  the  blindness  and  love 
of  ease  which  have  left  them  an  inheritance  of  woe. 

I  have  done  my  duty  under  as  deep  a  sense  of  responsibility 
to  God  and  man,  as  I  have  ever  felt.  Under  a  full  conviction  that 
the  salvation  of  the  whole  country  is  depending  upon  the  action 
of  the  South,- 1  am  impelled  to  deepen  the  sentiment  of  resistance 
in  the  Southern  mind,  and  to  strengthen  the  current  now  flowing 
towards  a  union  of  the  South,  in  defense  of  her  chartered  rights. 
It  is  a  duty  which  I  shall  not  be  called  to  repeat,  for  such  awful 
junctures  do  not  occur  twice  in  a  century.  Bright  and  happy  days 
are  yet  before  us  ;  and  before  another  political  earthquake  shall 
shake  the  continent,  I  hope  to  be  "  where  the  wicked  cease  from 
troubling  and  where  the  weary  are  at  rest." 

It  only  remains  to  say,  that  whatever  be  the  fortunes  of  the 
South,  I  accept  them  for  my  own.  Born  upon  her  soil,  of  a  father 
thus  born  before  me — from  an  ancestry  that  occupied  it  while 
yet  it  was  a  part  of  England's  possessions — she  is  in  every  sense, 
my  mother.  I  shall  die  upon  her  bosom — she  shall  know  no  peril, 
but  it  is  my  peril — no  conflict,  but  it  is  my  conflict — and  no  abyss 
of  ruin,  into  which  I  shall  not  share  her  fall.  May  theLord  God 
cover  her  head  in  this  her  day  of  battle  ! 


